Title: Shanghai GirlsAuthor: Lisa See
First of all, I have to get something off my chest. The previous Lisa See books I've read have not had a picture of the author on the jacket. This is her third book with a Chinese setting and Chinese characters. Her last name sounds like it could be Chinese, right? So I've been picturing a Chinese author all these years. This book jacket has a picture, and guess what? Not Asian. Not a huge deal, but interesting nonetheless.
Shanghai Girls is the story of May and Pearl, two spoiled and educated girls living in Shanghai in the 1930s. When their father's business fails, he sells them off to marry the sons of a rich American merchant. The girls, raised to be intelligent and independent, try to get out of the situation, but get caught in the Japanese invasion of Shanghai and see escaping to their American husbands as the best alternative. For the next twenty years, they try to adjust to life in America, which is not at all what they expect it will be.
As a story? Meh, I liked Snow Flower and the Secret Fan a lot better. May's character is fairly unlikeable. Pearl's was more complex-- her transformation from fashionable "beautiful girl" in Shanghai to a scared first-generation immigrant was realistic and interesting. But the story's ending seemed flat and rushed, and the book as a whole didn't move me.
3 comments:
Her father is Chinese, her mother is not. I've had friends that are half-Asian and don't look particularly Asian so it's not surprising to me.
I didn't really like Snow Flower so I haven't had much of a desire to read her other books. The characters and details were interesting but I thought the story wasn't great.
Ahhhh, that makes sense. Thanks for the clarification. If you didn't like Snow Flower, you definitely won't like this one.
Read See's family story - On Golden Mountain, I think it was called. SO, so interesting and you can see how her own ancestors and their experiences have played into her fiction.
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